HerrUU

16 hours ago, relicmeister said:

 So how does V 1.05 stack up against subsequent upgrades?  I must say I dread the update process.

Update to 1.11, there's no sense in updating to an older versio. Don't fear the update process, use a windows PC and install the additional drivers in the update package. Once that is done, just open the update installer and it will tell you what to do. 🙂

Went out today for a hunt with the 1.11 Mostly with Park mode and M3 frequency. It did what it was supposed to do. I was amazed by the depth of the M3 in park mode, picking out .22 shells (those little ones) at depths of 10 inches and more. 

Nokta Makro has released the final version 1.11 on their website. The changes versus version 1.09 are : 

Quote

1. A new level "0" has been added to the Iron Filter (IF) setting in the Park, Field and Goldfield modes. In addition, a new level 9 has been added to the Iron Filter (IF) setting.
There has been no change to the levels 1-8. Level 9 will become handy when trying to discriminate some unwanted mid-conductors such as shotgun cartridges as iron.

2. The Backlight setting has been reconfigured as below:
The Backlight setting’s levels have been increased to 6 from 5. Levels 1-5 in the software version 1.09 is now equal to 2-6 in this version. Level 1 in this version is now the reduced level.

3. The automatic Backlight setting has been reconfigured to work as below:
a) When the automatic Backlight setting was on, the automatic Backlight was not activated when the pinpoint button was pressed to turn on Tracking in the Ground Balance screen. This now has been updated.
b) When the automatic Backlight setting was on, the Backlight was turning off once you exit the Settings menu. This now has been updated so that the Backlight goes off within the normal time-out period.
c) When the automatic Backlight setting was on, the automatic Backlight was not activated when the pinpoint button was pressed in the Notch Discrimination Pattern. This now has been updated.
d) While in Automatic Ground Balance, the auto backlight will now be lit until the ground balancing is completed.

4. M3 multi frequency in PARK mode has been updated to prevent coins from being masked by aluminum foil.

5. Bottle Cap Rejection setting has been added.
When the device is in multi frequency, select the Recovery Speed setting and press the pinpoint button. When you navigate with the right and left buttons, you will see the letters "bC" appear on the right side of the screen. You can adjust the bC value between 1-8 using the + and – buttons. When the bC is 0, it means that it is off.

6. Ground Suppressor setting has been added.
It is used to eliminate false ground signals in tough terrains. To access the setting, select the Recovery Speed setting and press the pinpoint button. When you navigate with the right and left buttons, you will see the letters "GS" appear on the right side of the screen. You can adjust the GS value between 1-8 using the + and – buttons. When the GS is 0, it means that it is off. It is recommended that you leave this setting at off position unless needed.

7. The audio emitted as the Tone Break points are changed while in 60-Tone, has been modified with increased bass.

8. Audio Gain setting has been activated in the Gold Field Mode.

9. Warning tones have been added to the buttons.
The buttons will now emit a warning tone in the following cases:
a) To indicate the minimum and maximum levels of settings.
b) When an inactive setting in a specific mode trying to be activated.
The loudness of the warning tones will work directly proportional to the Volume setting.

10. Bluetooth Chip Version will now be displayed.
When the Bluetooth headphones are paired with the device and the Bluetooth setting is selected, press and hold the Discrimination button. The Bluetooth chip version will be displayed in the clock section. When the button is released, the clock will be displayed again.

11. The loudness of the Volume Level 1 has been reduced in PARK, FIELD and BEACH modes.

12. General improvements have been implemented.

I can say from working with it that the Iron Filter "0" setting and bottle cap filter are things to try out. 

I had an old Teknetics Alpha laying around when I started metal detecting last year. It's honestly a toy and after a few months I had enough of it. So started to save some money to buy a new one and I was actually saving for a Deus 1 v6 which is a very nice machine. But at 1000€ also an expensive one. And along came the promotion at Nokta for the Legend with headphones at 599 so I also took the "risk" to buy one. 

Since then, I have not regretted this decision one bit. For the initial 1000€ I was going to spend on the Deus, I bought the additional LG24 and LG30 coils and now I have a detector that in my opinion can give a Manticore or Deus 2 a run for his money.

7 hours ago, Ndrefg said:

 

I got some nice results in park on the beach with 1.07 but upgraded the firmware to 1.09 and now to 1.10 and was interested in trying if possible to make a "downgrade" to understand if it was luck or not.

Why not setup a few tests in your garden to see if you could have an issue with the newer versions? I had more or less the same feeling as you have but it was not due to the software update, rather me not understanding what the new settings were. I took some time to test things like the Iron Filter and Bottle Cap reject and now I'm able to better tune my detector. As a consequence, the device now runs better.

When you don't find things, it's often because there's nothing under the coil. I've had the same problem, luckily I had a friend nearby with another detector and he was not finding anything either. Just junk. Turns out to be a bad field. Once we moved to another field, the finds became better. So I would say, leave the update as is, check how the new settings work and go out hunting a few times. You'll see that it will get better 🙂

16 hours ago, HerrUU said:

I currently set it on 5 just because it's in the middle but don't ask me what it does. It's not a bug, it's just me not really understanding what I'm doing.

Just did some testing in my garden with a few iron finds and a few coins and I think I managed to learn myself how this Iron Filter works 🙂As said, it was user error and not due to the device. The filter absolutely works but struggles once you start throwing large iron in the mix. But even then it's able to at least give an indication that there's something not irony in the signal (at IF setting 0) but I would not dig it up to be honest. With smaller iron targets next to a coin (3/4 inch and 1 inch, I tested both sizes) it does give a great separation of the different targets, again at IF level 0 until 3, once you go at 4 the signal starts getting iffy again. Keep in mind, this is a test in my garden under the conditions that exist here.

I also noticed that M2 somehow responds a little better to the iron filter as M1. I did not really test M3 as I don't use it that often.

I think it's a great tip and as you say, it only takes a few seconds 🙂

13 hours ago, DSMITH said:

It is rite in the instructions when you download a new version, to do a Factory default reset after a install of a new version

That part I know and I do it. It's the reset before the update that I'm referring to 😉 And it could make sense depending on how the update of the software is done by Nokta. They can either remove the entire installation and replace it with a new version or just replace the parts that are new/updated. In case of the latter, it makes very much sense to first remove all personal settings.

Went out on a hunt today with the LG30. I think I found my favorite coil 😁 This coil goes at least as deep as the LG28,but because it's less sensitive to interference, you can actually set your sensitivity higher which means that it goes deeper. It's more than capable to separate small targets and pinpointing is pretty accurate.

3 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

the factory reset before and after (which Nokta recommends BTW) makes sense

This I did not know, good tip. Until now I just installed the new version and did a factory reset afterwards. 

Went on a hunt with the new 1.10v3 and I didn't encounter any real issues. I'm just getting more and more lost with that Iron Filter setting. Now we have settings from 0 to 9 but I still don't really see what it does when I'm searching in the field. Information is rather vague and sometimes even contradicting. I currently set it on 5 just because it's in the middle but don't ask me what it does. It's not a bug, it's just me not really understanding what I'm doing.

2 hours ago, DSMITH said:

my next step is I will remove the LG24 and mount the LG28

I would do that before removing 1.10 v3. I have the LG24 for a while now and it's depth is not that great. It's a killer coil when in trashy areas, great separation but it comes at the cost of losing some depth. That's why I also bought the LG30.

But this afternoon I'm going on a hunt with the LG30 & the beta 3 version of the software. I'll keep you informed.

Version 1.10 beta 3 has just been released. They added a level 0 to the iron filter. Final version should be available on march 1st

I wonder when they will release version 1.11? Been about a month since they finalized beta testing, no?

Of course, seen what's happening in Turkey at the moment, the delay could well have a good reason.

After some consideration I ordered the LG30 search coil, mainly to replace the LG28. I already had the LG24, which is a great coil but where I go hunting, it lacks a bit of depth. So today, I got the new coil delivered and had some time to test it out in my garden. This garden has already been searched to death with the LG28 and LG24 but I wanted to see if I could get some new targets and dig up some known ones that are mainly foil, bottle caps and can slaw.

I was amazed by the accuracy of this coil, pinpointing is no problem and target separation is very good, two things that were a bit lacking with the LG28. I even found a coin in a spot that I at least went over a few times with the LG24, it was a faint signal and about 8 inches down was the coin on its side. Dug up some small foil and nails, I knew what they were but I wanted to see how accurate and precise the coil could be. Well I had a iffy signal, right on the edge of what I would dig up, irony signal but I wanted to see what it was. It was a tiny piece of a galvanized nail, about 1/3 of an inch long. It was at 9 inches deep. My sensitivity was at 25, Park program and M1. When I switched to Field (same settings), I got a lot more noise but this is because the soil in that part of the garden is very hot, lots of nails, foil, bottle caps and can slaw. At a certain point I had a slammer of a signal, VDI 18 so I knew this was probably foil (which it was) but the size was minuscule, about 1/2 cm2, a little flake that was about 4 inches down. I was able to cleanly identify it and got it pinpointed smack in the center of my plug. 

Anyways, great coil this LG30. Nokta should think about making this the stock coil instead of the LG28. With the LG28, the legend is a good detector but with the LG30 it is simply superb 🙂

Thanks, it does actually so it's interference 🤔No wonder, we have some of the best 5G coverage of Europe here. Technology does have it's disadvanteges 

I did but it's not a lot of information. Found several pieces of cokes this afternoon in the field and did some tests with the GS settings but it didn't do much. There's a lot of interference here, I wonder if cellphone coverage has anything to do with it?

Partially answering my own question, I found this great link on mineralization.

I've been looking at the Ground Suppression option we now have in version 1.10. If I read it correctly this helps stabilizing the detector on highly mineralized soil, right?

Now my question is, how do I know I have highly mineralised soil? I hunt on arable farmland here in Belgium and this soil has been farmed for a long long time (oldest reference I found is 1750 but even then it was already farmed for centuries) and in the last 100 years a lot of fertilizer has been used. I wonder if this can result in mineralized soil? 

What is mineralized soil?

I can only say one thing about the LG24 : it's a damn good coil, perhaps the best that has been made for the Legend (I'm curious how the LG30 will be perceived). I spent my afternoon in the garden, M2 first in Field mode, that gave a lot of interference but then I switched to Park, M2 again and I was hitting targets between 2 and 6 inches. Pinpointing was spot on, separation is very good and after a few digs, you can very accurately tell what the target will be and at what depth (in my case mostly canslaw, aluminium foil and bottle caps) and it can single out very small targets. In comparison, the LG28 goes deeper but is a lot less accurate and more sensitive to interference and needs to be ran at a lower sensitivity compared to the LG24.

I think there is one more update to come, together with their new pinpointer that will be able to pair with the legend. Logically there will be some adaptation to the software of the legend that will be needed too?

On 2/9/2023 at 8:28 PM, Bill (S. CA) said:

I have a feeling they may be taking their time so they can finally lock the detector and stop with the update craziness.

Don't know if it's to finally lock the detector but going from a beta version to a production version takes time. The final version needs to be 100% clear of any bugs, residual code, ... Better that they take the time and do it right than to rush it and release something that's not 100% up to Nokta standards 🙂

I have been playing extensively with the latest beta version the last few days and I must recall my earlier post about it being less stable as 1.09. Given a correct setup, it's at least as stable as 1.09. 

20 hours ago, Digalicious said:

That's why I was surprised about Herr's post. I'm thinking maybe Herr didn't do the reset, or just might need to reinstall 1.10.

I followed the correct procedure and did reset the device. But anyway, I did find what the difference was and where it came from. Version 1.10 is not less stable, I did exactly the same test as yesterday but with 1.09 now. There was no real difference in stability at high sensitivity. Single frequencies were (again) more stable and M2 turned out to be the least stable (again in my garden). But by playing with the reactivity settings, I noticed (and this was a deuh 🤪 moment ) that the higher you set the reactivity, the more "emi sensitive" the detector becomes. Lowering the reactivity improved the stability.

So, as I think I found my issue in version 1.09, I'm again going to install 1.10 v2 and do the exact same test tomorrow again. 

20 hours ago, DSMITH said:

my hopes are with some seeing what you are

Just curious, but what do you think I am? 

19 hours ago, DSMITH said:

There will always be those users that no matter what is done by a manufacturer they will literally pick a detector apart

That is the very definition of beta testing. Going through every possible setting you can and see if the changes that have been made are as they should be. If this is not supposed to be done, then don't send out a beta version. And for your info, I did not send out an email for this, I just asked the question here on a Nokta Makro Legend forum. 

Reinstalled the 1.09. Tomorrow I'm doing some tests where I had the issue this afternoon. I'm curious if it will be better now 🙂

EMI is part of the problem but not alone. Yesterday I was in the field with no EMI around and still I had to turn the sensitivity down to keep the detector quiet. Thing is, I hunted that same spot before but with verson 1.09 and didn't have that unstability.

Anyway, I'm not using the BC reject anyways (believe it or not we don't have a lot of bottlecaps here) and the IF 9 is not for me either. I'll go back to 1.09 and wait for the final version of 1.10 (or 1.11) to be available.